Leader of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), Nonhle Mbuthuma, share’s her farming community’s struggle to defend their ancestral land from Mineral’s Resources Limited, (MRC) an Australian mining company with British investment. The people of Xolobeni town, on the Wild Coast of South Africa, fought for many years against the proposed gold mine and finally succeeded with their “Right to Say No” campaign in 2016. The proposed mine would have destroyed a 22km area of the…

Three African women, Jennifer Amejja, Edna Kaptoyo and Rita Uwaka, speak about the importance of women’s cultural, traditional knowledge and practice for food sovereignty, agroecology and community forest management. How they grow nutritious food, use and protect medicinal plants, select and exchange seed, establish vital community seed banks, provide livelihoods and support the local economy. Also how they protect forests, many of which are sacred, and ensure replenishment and restoration of watersheds.

Indigenous women…

AFSA is currently facilitating a campaign on mainstreaming agroecology in climate policies in 12 African countries and at the Africa regional level. The campaign includes mobilizing local actors, engaging government and reaching out to the general public through various media outlets. This session will share the experiences from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Togo. Sena Alouka from Togo we will share experiences of youth in rural Togo promoting agroecology for climate action and also share…

Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition movement, will share ideas from his latest book 'From What Is to What If', exploring how we have allowed our collective imagination to contract and dessicate at the worst time possible. A zero carbon future, with a sustainable, resilient agricultural system, will be achieved, he argues, through creating the best conditions for the imagination and through inspiring examples. The next 10 years need to be many things, but they…

Goats play a transformative role around the world, particularly in harsh environments - reflecting climate, vegetation or conflict. They transform the most indigestible plant material into meat, milk and skins and are also increasing the economic independence and resilience of rural women.

Rothamsted is researching the role of goats in smallholder systems in Malawi and Botswana - focused on nutrition, socioeconomics and parasitology (through targeted selective treatment using metabolites from bioactive plants). Goats have…

African Earth Jurisprudence Practitioners from West and Southern Africa share their stories of working with traditional land-based communities in the revival of their seed and food sovereignty, the restoration of their sacred natural sites and the strengthening of their ecological governance systems, inspired by Earth Jurisprudence and indigenous cosmologies.

Across Africa, a network of Earth Jurisprudence Practitioners is accompanying traditional and indigenous communities in the revival and enhancement of their Earth-centred customary governance systems.…

The transformation of the food system relies on the effective organising of locally rooted movements and struggles around the world. This work is impossible without challenging approaches rooted in the dominance of colonial languages (in particular English, French and Spanish) and without structures and platforms that ensure and facilitate for everyone’s voices and languages to be heard.

Agroecology at its heart respects the traditions and linguistic heritage of diverse land based cultures. Therefore, it…

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has played a critical role in feeding local communities during the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses and gaps in our global food production and distribution systems. In contrast, smaller more local farms and direct sales models are being celebrated as more resilient and veg box customer numbers soared in 2020.

Join this session to hear from CSA farmers in Europe and the global CSA movement Urgenci, about the…

The importance of local, fresh, seasonal, healthy, sustainable food has gathered momentum, stimulated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the need for food of high nutritional quality has yet to be widely recognised.

We are increasingly aware of the links between the heath of our soil and nutrient content of the food we produce. In this session, we will explore such questions as: Has the decline in soil fertility led to poor nutritional quality food? And…